Anyone and Anything At All (That's Loved By You)
by Chasing Rabbits
Summary: Butters never expected working late would result in anything but a few lost hours of sleep and disdain for his job. He gets a surprise when he finds a certain little someone poking around the office one night, who in turn reconnects him with Kenny McCormick. Birthday oneshot for scarlettshazam. Title from "Happiness" from You're a Good Man Charlie Brown.


Butters drums his fingers on the countertop as he waits for his coffee to brew. Normally, he doesn't mind staying late at the office to finish up a few things; that's just the nature of having a job sometimes. What he does mind is that his coworkers take advantage of his pleasant demeanor and inability to say 'no', which is how he so often finds himself still in the office at eight o'clock at night.

He pours a hefty amount of creamer into the smiley face mug he brought from home and stifles a yawn against the back of his hand. At least it's Friday, and he has nowhere to be in the morning… or tonight, for that matter.

This job has sort of robbed him of any semblance of a social life. He knew it was a possibility, since accounting is the most time intensive job out there around this time of year, but he also knows that his coworkers are probably out living it up right now, laughing at the poor chump they stuck with all their work.

He switches off the kitchen light and walks back to his cubicle, dragging his feet in the hopes that stalling will somehow undo the giant pile of work that he has waiting for him.

Only, by the time he's halfway back to his desk, he hears a rustle come from one of the cubicles nearby. Carefully, he sets his coffee down on Helen's desk and goes to investigate the noise. It seems to be coming from Edgar's desk, and he wouldn't be here tonight. He's one of the jackasses who pawned all his work off on Butters to begin with.

He peers over the edge of the gray divider and sees not Edgar, but a small child. A little girl, to be exact, with blonde pigtails bright pink leggings, sparkly shoes and a blue t-shirt that, when she turns around, matches her giant eyes almost exactly to the shade.

On the front of the shirt is a drawing of The Little Mermaid, face to face with what Butters is pretty sure is the TARDIS.

"Hello, there," he says very carefully. She pops her thumb out of her mouth long enough to say, "Hi" and wave before she puts it right back. Butters figures she can't be any older than five—why on earth is there a little girl just wandering around the office at this time of night?

"My name's Butters," he says. "What's yours?"

"Haley," the little girl replies softly.

"And just what the heck are you doin' here, Haley?" Butters asks.

"Um, my daddy works here," says Haley, less soft now, "And he said he would play hide-and-seek with me if I came to work with him but then he said he couldn't so I ran away."

"Oh," Butters frowns. "Well, that's a shame. I bet your dad is really worried about you, sweetheart."

"He is a butt," Haley says very definitively, and pops her thumb in her mouth before continuing to rifle through Edgar's top drawer.

"Hey, chin up," Butters comes around from behind the wall and gently pulls her hand out of the drawer. "If your daddy's workin', that means he's makin' money, and if he's doin' that it's so he can feed you and buy you clothes a-an' nice stuff like that. Sometimes grown-ups don't have as much time to have fun as they'd like."

Haley scowls at him, and rather than say anything she whips her thumb out of her mouth and runs. Butters follows quickly after her, pulling his phone out of his pocket so he can call building security as soon as he catches up to her.

She stops right at the sight of Butters' mug, stunned into silence by it. Butters stops a few paces behind her.

"You like it?" he asks, and she nods.

"I like yellow," she reaches up to touch it, but Butters quickly intervenes. He grabs the mug before she can and cautions her, "It's too hot to touch, darlin'."

He sees her lower lip wibble, and so he quickly interjects, "But if you like bright colors, have I got somethin' for you. You wanna see?"

Haley nods and follows Butters back to his desk. Out of his drawer, he pulls a cube of colored post-it notes and hands it to her.

"Whoa," she marvels. "It's so pretty."

"Yep," Butters nods and sits in his chair. "Now Haley, sweetheart, do you know where exactly your daddy works?"

Haley shrugs. Butters sighs and runs a hand through his hair, mussing up the clean lines and sending it into disarray. Before he can call security, though, he hears the front door to the office open and slam, followed by a very panicked, "Haley?!"

Haley perks up, and like a rocket she's off again, zigzagging through the cubicles and laughing like a maniac.

"Haley Penelope McCormick, this is not funny!" comes another stern call, and Butters feels himself freeze. It's not exactly an uncommon last name, but he's only ever known one McCormick family and it couldn't—

As a reedy blur in a janitor's outfit rushes by him, Butters decides that yes, it is entirely likely that he knows precisely who this McCormick is.

"I'm not kidding, young lady," Kenny warns sharply, breathing labored as he clutches a stitch in his side. "We talked about cooperating when daddy's at work."

Butters stifles a laugh against his hand when he hears Haley give a very decided, "Nuh-uh!" from where she's chosen to hide.

"Uh, I think I can help you," Butters stands and Kenny looks back at him just as Haley shouts, "Butters, NO!"

And then realization hits Kenny's face and he asks, "Butters Stotch?"

Butters gives him a wave, "Hey there, Ken."

"You have to find me!" Haley insists from her hiding place, and Kenny sags under the weight of a sigh.

"Man, I'd love to catch up," he says. "But I gotta find my kid first."

Butters cups a hand over his mouth and whispers, "Check under the desk over there with the pictures of the kittens on the walls."

"Thanks," Kenny claps him on the shoulder and goes to investigate. Moments later, Kenny returns with Haley draped over his shoulder, giggling uncontrollably.

"Butters fuckin' Stotch," Kenny grins, and pulls him into a one-armed hug. He's much more filled out since Butters last saw him—still tall and skinny, but with nice healthy cheeks and strong-looking arms that, of course, are more inked up than when Butters last saw him. "I haven't seen you since, what, high school?"

"Uh, probably yeah," Butters grabs the back of his neck, hoping he doesn't look as embarrassed as he feels.

"I guess you've already met this little monkey," Kenny gives Haley a little swat on the behind, and Haley giggles even harder. "So where you been, man?"

"Oh, uh," Butters shifts. "He-here an' there. Kinda ran away as fast as I could, didn't I?"

"I'll say," Kenny chuckles, like he doesn't still have a little girl wriggling on his shoulder.

"Well, I s'pose the short of it is that I went out to LA and lived with my aunt for a little while. I went to school and kinda kept her some company while she was gettin' a divorce from my uncle."

"Oh, I'm sorry dude," Kenny frowns. "That's rough."

"Eh, a lot better than stayin' at home, if I'm bein' honest," Butters shrugs.

"Daddy," Haley whines.

"Nope," Kenny shakes his head. "Not until I know you can behave."

"I _can_," Haley kicks, and Kenny has to put her down before he drops her. He kneels down in front of her, hands on her arms, and Butters wonders if he should just go back to his desk until Kenny can talk.

"Haley, you know it scares me when you run off like that," Kenny says. "I know you're a big girl, but daddy still needs to make sure you're safe, even when he's working."

Haley pouts and stalks over to Diane's desk in the cubicle next to Butters'. She climbs under the desk and uses Diane's foot rest as a fortress, and when Kenny tries to pull her out, she insists, "Go away!"

"Ah, fuck," Kenny sighs and turns back to Butters, "I'm really sorry about this. Her mom and I are usually pretty good about working around our schedules, but sometimes I gotta bring her in. I'll get her out of your hair."

"No," Butters shakes his head, trying to ignore the yucky feeling in his stomach at the mention of Haley's mother. He supposes he knew that Haley didn't just appear out of thin air, but it hurts to know that he's missed so much in what was such a good friend's life.

"I mean," Butters amends. "She can stay here, if she wants. I-I'm not gonna be done for a few hours, a-and I gotta say, it'd sure be nice to have some company."

Kenny looks back at Haley's fort and sighs.

"Dude, that'd be awesome," he says. "I'm already behind as it is. Only if you're sure, though. I know you gotta get your… whatever it is done."

"Processing accounts, mostly," Butters looks back at the pile of work on his desk, and Kenny grimaces.

"Dude, really?"

"Yeah," Butters frowns. "Only way I could get my dad to pay for school was if I did somethin' useful. So I went into accounting."

"Harsh," Kenny hisses through his teeth.

"Yeah," Butters nods. "As you can imagine, havin' someone around with a personality would be real refreshing… even if she is pouty right now."

"Oh my god," Kenny pulls him into a hug. He smells like window cleaner and spicy soap, and Butters feels his insides get dangerously twisted up. "Thank you so much. I'll fucking buy you dinner or a beer or something when I get the chance, but holy shit. You are awesome."

"It's, uh," Butters pats him awkwardly. "It's no problem, honest. Just go do what you gotta do, and Haley an' I will hang out. Right, Haley?"

Haley doesn't answer. As he leaves, Kenny calls, "I love you, baby girl."

Haley seems to consider for a few moments before she decides, with a heavy sigh, "I love you, daddy."

Kenny gives the air a little victory punch and, once again, thanks Butters profusely before he runs out of the office.

After a few moments, Butters decides it's best to leave Haley to sulk on her own and sits down to work. Minutes blend together as Butters gets engrossed again. Nighttime does this to him, makes him hyper-focus and extremely efficient. The only thing that he's not used to is a little girl patting on his leg out of the blue, startling him out of his trance by asking, "What are you doing?"

"I'm workin', sweetheart," Butters takes a form off his desk and shows it to her.

"It looks boring," says Haley.

"It's very boring," Butters chuckles. "But work isn't always fun. In fact, it's usually not."

"What if you worked at Disneyland?" Haley poses. "Would it be fun then?"

"I suppose it would," Butters nods, laughing now.

"Why's your desk so boring?" Haley asks then, leaning on Butters' leg.

"Oh," Butters frowns. It is sort of dreary, but he spruced it up with his mug and a picture of him and his friends from college. He likes it okay, at least. "I guess I never thought about it."

"Could I make you a picture?" Haley turns her big eyes on Butters', and for a split second she looks almost exactly like Kenny. Come on, how could he say no to that face?

"You most certainly can," he says and grabs a piece of paper out of his desk, along with a set of colored markers that he likes to keep hidden from his coworkers. "You make me as many pictures as you like."

Haley brings Butters pictures about every five minutes, each different and each captioned with Haley's name and a few other words that don't make a lot of sense in the context of her drawings. Or maybe she is handing him drawings of a cat, or a cow, or a jumble of letters that, Butters admits, he can't decipher.

He doesn't know at what point Haley falls asleep, only that he looks over at where she spread out on the ground and sees her ribs expanding and contracting rhythmically.

Kenny hasn't returned by the time Butters is done with his work, so he starts up a game of Tetris on his computer. He loses track of time, but it must be late when Kenny gets back, because all he can do is repeat, "Thank you so much, dude, I owe you one big time."

"Kenny!" Butters exclaims. "It's okay, I liked watchin' her. She made me some pretty neat cubicle decorations, as you can see."

He gestures to his cubicle, where Haley's drawings now line the wall, and Kenny smiles.

"She does love adding a little color wherever she goes," he says, and then stoops to pick her up. She groggily readjusts herself in Kenny's arms, and whines when she sees the brightness of the fluorescent lights. "I know, baby, we're going home."

"Listen, if you ever need a babysitter," says Butters as they walk out of the office, "you can always give me a call. She's a real hoot and a half."

"Yeah," Kenny smiles and kisses her on the cheek. "She's exhausting sometimes, but she's really a great kid."

Butters hums. "So, do your wife and you both work late?"

"Wife?" Kenny asks, a smile on his lips. "You mean Haley's mom?"

"Well, yeah," Butters shifts, wishing now that the elevator doors hadn't closed.

"Ah, her mom and I aren't married," Kenny adjusts her on his hip. "It was a one-off thing. She's, uh, had a little trouble recently, and I actually just got full custody a few months ago. That's why she's been coming to work with me. Dude, I had no idea you even worked in this building, how long have you been here?"

"We just moved offices," Butters shrugs, wanting to ask more about Haley's mom, but finding himself unable when he sees how badly Kenny fidgets. The elevator doors open and Kenny follows Butters out.

"We should hang out more, man," he decides. "I mean, I know I don't have a lot of time or anything, but it'd be nice to see you, y'know? Single dad and all that, it's kind of exhausting, but hey. We have a Nintendo 64 and a whole chest full of Barbie dolls."

"Obviously you know how to have a good time," Butters grins.

"Exactly."

"Yeah," Butters nods then. "Just let me know. Lemme give you my phone number."

Butters gives Kenny his cell phone, his work number, and even the number for the landline he still has, just in case.

When they part at Kenny's beat up truck in the parking lot, Butters hangs around while Kenny straps Haley into her car seat. They don't speak, but it's nice to have company.

Butters misses having company.

"It was real good to see you, dude," says Kenny, and he pulls Butters into a hug.

Butters flushes, hoping that Kenny can't feel through his clothes. He usually doesn't let people hug him for that specific reason, but if Kenny feels anything he keeps it to himself.

His drive home is entirely more bearable—Butters feels on top of the world the entire time—and when he gets home and sees a text from Kenny, he can't help the grin that spreads over his face.

ooo

It's hard to pinpoint when it started exactly, but he knows that it's gone too far.

Every morning when Butters wakes up, he goes for a jog, he takes his shower, and between drying off and getting dressed, he rolls a pair of stockings up his legs and slides into a pair of lacy panties. He even has a garter belt that holds his stockings in place.

If it's a particularly difficult morning, he'll put on a corset underneath everything else.

Mornings have been more and more difficult lately.

He knows it's not normal, and at one point he even felt ashamed of it. But as long as he keeps it to himself, who is it hurting? He likes wearing this stuff, and it really isn't anybody's business.

So he tells himself.

There's still a shiver of fear that runs up his spine every time he goes to the bathroom at work, or when people hug hum or touch him or anything like that.

Even if it isn't anyone's business, he still doesn't want anybody to know.

He knows it's going to be another late night when he hears Peter and Jack talking about a concert tonight in Denver. Still, he eats his lunch—turkey on wheat, vanilla pudding cup, and a bag of veggie chips—and pretends he doesn't see the inevitable coming.

Around one o'clock, Butters gets a text from Kenny, _"u gon be werkin late?"_

Butters texts back, _"Probably… why?"_

_"want company?" _

The question is soon followed by a picture of Haley, chubby cheeks tugged up in a smile, chocolate ice cream all over her face. Butters hides a laugh behind his hand and quickly responds, "_Always_."

On his break, he runs to the drugstore and picks up a few coloring books and a box of crayons.

"What are those for?" Helen asks, poking her nose over the cubicle wall.

"Oh, for my friend's kid," Butters explains. No need to lie to Helen, even if she is a bit of a gossip.

"You have a friend with a kid?" Helen presses. "How old are you, twenty?"

"I keep tellin' you I'm twenty-five, Helen," Butters says patiently, though he does suppose Kenny must have been pretty young when Haley was born.

"Kid, I got shoes older than you," Helen laughs, and then disappears back into her cubicle. Butters pushes his fingers up under his reading glasses and rubs his eyes.

It's not too long after that Jack and Peter ask him to finish up some work for them.

"You're a lifesaver, man," Peter claps him on the back. "We owe you one."

Butters nods and accepts the stacks of papers they hand to him, brain already pounding against his skull in warning. The tension headache will probably set in some time around four and last him all through the night.

At least he'll have company tonight.

He works diligently, occasionally reaching down to drag the fabric of his pants over his stockings underneath. It soothes him enough that he can work past everyone bidding him a good night, and up until the deserted office doors open up again.

"Butters, Butters!" calls Haley as she zigzags through the cubicles. When she finds him, she launches herself into his lap and wraps her arms around his neck. Kenny appears soon after with a purple backpack on his shoulder and a relieved smile on his face.

"Hey, man," he greets with that easy, toothy grin. "So, I should be done pretty quick tonight, but she wanted to bring her backpack anyway."

"Daddy, it's my Mary Poppins bag!" Haley insists, sitting now on Butters' lap.

"Why's that?" Butters queries, as Mary Poppins is nowhere to be seen on the bag itself.

"Because it holds everything, like in Mary Poppins," Haley explains and slides down so she can grab the backpack from Kenny.

"Oh, honey don't—oh…kay," Kenny warns only half a second too late. She's opened the bag and dumped all of its contents onto the floor, and, indeed, it does seem to hold more than Butters thought it would. A few Barbies, some dresses, a coloring book, a giant box of crayons, a stuffed animal—

"Great googly moogly, you may just be onto somethin' there," Butters whistles. "I got a few more colorin' books for you too if you want."

"Really!" Haley perks up, and Butters pulls the coloring books out of his desk. One is a generic princess book, and the other is superheroes. She takes both and holds them close to her chest.

"What do you say, Hales," Kenny reminds her.

"Thank you," Haley opens the superhero coloring book and immediately grabs her box of crayons.

Butters looks up at Kenny, who seems mystified by this witchcraft, and shrugs.

"You're a fucking saint, dude," Kenny marvels then, and stoops to kiss Haley on the top of the head. "I'll be back in a bit, baby."

Haley nods, but she's already engrossed.

Kenny mouths a quick 'thank you' before he runs off, and that's sort of just that. Coloring keeps Haley busy long enough for Butters to have finished most of his work. They spend the rest of the time pinning drawings to Butters' cubicle walls, arranging them just so until Kenny arrives.

"You gotta clean up your mess, baby girl," Kenny reminds her. Haley groans and tromps over to her pile of stuff, packing her backpack full until she can't fit anything else in.

She has to carry her stuffed Dalmatian in her arms so she doesn't squish her Barbie doll or tangle up her hair. Kenny scoops her up to give her a kiss hello, and never gets around to putting her down again.

"Hey," Kenny says as they head out of the office. "Thanks again."

"Not a problem," Butters grins. "I'm here any time you need."

"You sure?" Kenny asks. "It seems like your job is already kinda running you into the ground."

"Whaddya mean?" Butters stifles a yawn against the back of his hand.

"You look like the walking dead, dude," Kenny's lips quirk into a sympathetic smile, and Butters sighs.

Which only turns into another yawn.

"Come on, when's the last time you got a full night's sleep?" Kenny asks.

Butters shrugs. The days have all been running together more and more lately, the monotony of work broken up only by the similar but different monotony of his weekends.

"I'd better get home," he says softly. Kenny gives him a hug, and Butters seizes up again. Thankfully Kenny's hand never goes far enough down to feel the corset under his work clothes.

"Say 'bye, monkey," Kenny jostles Haley softly. Haley sits up and twists so she can give Butters a hug.

"Bye, monkey," Haley murmurs and then goes back to her spot on Kenny's shoulder.

Oooo

More and more, Haley and Butters hang out in the office while Kenny cleans. Even when Butters doesn't have to stay late, he pretends that he does and spends the entire time playing with Haley. Once they played hide and seek, another time they pretended the supply closet was the TARDIS and spent the night having space adventures. Butters' favorite may have been when Haley wanted to have a snowball fight, so Butters had them each pick a color of post-it note, crumple them up, and throw them back and forth until Kenny came back and told them to pick up their mess.

"Aw, don't be such a spoil sport," Butters chuckled and beams one of his orange post-its off the top of Kenny's head.

"Hey, I know the people who clean this floor," said Kenny, pointing at the "Building Staff" patch on his shirt. "Have a little respect for the craft."

It's fun, though. For a while, Butters sort of forgot what it felt like to have fun.

Then one day comes when Kenny turns up, just by himself in his uniform, while Butters is on the phone with one of his managers. Kenny sits on a clean part of Butters' desk and plucks one of Haley's latest creations off of the stack by Butters' inbox.

"Uh-huh," Butters nods, "No, I'll get right on it—Of course."

Butters hangs up the phone and swivels to face Kenny. "What brings you here?" he asks.

"Just got promoted," Kenny beams. "Maintenance day crew, son… come to think of it, it's kind of a lateral move task-wise, isn't it?"

Butters feels his blood freeze. He knows he should be happy for Kenny, and he is, but Butters likes the routine they've settled into.

"Who's lookin' after Haley?" Butters asks.

"Ah, Karen's kind of picking up the slack," Kenny grabs the back of his neck. "She's been outta work and living with me and the kid. At least now I'm on full time, you know?"

Butters nods, because that's understandable. Full time jobs are important, especially for people with kids. It makes Butters a little sick to think that Haley and Kenny haven't been taken care of in the way that they've needed, because Kenny does so much that he deserves to be taken care of.

"I'm real happy for you, Ken," Butters smiles. "I-I admit I'm gonna miss hangin' with Haley, but this is good for you guys."

"Dude, that's why I'm here," Kenny folds his inked up arms over his chest. "Haley cried for a solid hour last night when I told her about this. If you think you're getting out of hanging with me and my girl then you've got another thing coming."

Butters quirks his eyebrow.

"W-what?"

"What're you doing for dinner tonight?" Kenny asks.

Which is how Butters finds himself knocking on Kenny's door at seven o'clock at night with a bottle of wine in hand and a stuffed purple bear in the other. He feels like an ass just standing there, and for a moment he wonders if he's got the right address, but soon the door swings open to reveal a thoroughly amused Karen McCormick.

"Sorry, the To Catch A Predator house is across the street," she says. Butters looks down at the gifts in his hands, now suddenly more incriminating than before, and hastily shoves the bottle of wine into Karen's hand.

"Oo-hoo, you got all fancy on us," she whistles. "No four dollar wine for mamma tonight."

She then turns a big smile on Butters and opens up her skinny arms, "It's great to see you again, Butters."

Butters lets himself be hugged and thanks god he didn't wear a corset today.

"Hey, Butters is here!" Karen calls. In an instant, Haley appears at the end of the hallway and runs toward Butters at top speed. She wears a cracked plastic tiara on her head and a feathered boa that's seen better days.

"Hey there, girlie," Butters scoops her up in his arms. "And just what are you supposed to be?"

"I'm a fairy princess," Haley sticks out her tongue.

"And a lovely princess you are, your majesty," Butters agrees. He bows, taking Haley along with him and dangling her just an inch above the carpet. She giggles wildly as Butters sweeps her back up, and the two come face to face with Kenny.

"What's going on in here?" he asks.

"Well, if I'd known royal court was bein' held, I'd 'a'dressed better," Butters admits. "I did, however, bring a little somethin' for her majesty's table."

He holds out the bear and grins as Haley's eyes go wide. She snatches the bear and hugs it close to her chest, and this time says "Thank you" without being told.

"Honey, why don't you go get washed up for dinner," Kenny says.

"First I have to introduce her to the royal court, daddy!" Haley exclaims and wriggles out of Butters' arms. She runs down the hall, talking excitedly at the bear as she shuts the door to her room behind her.

"Wow, that was really nice of you, dude," Kenny grins and pulls Butters into a hug. These McCormicks sure are huggers, aren't they?

The decorations around the house are sparse, and upon a closer look everything looks a little more worn than Butters is used to. Still, aside from a few stray toys and an occasional crayon mark on the wall, it's relatively clean.

"You got a real nice place here, Ken," Butters grins.

"Yeah, it's all right," Kenny shrugs.

"A lot better than what we were used to," Karen considers, appearing beside Butters with an open wine bottle and three plastic princess cups stacked up together. Kenny and Butters each take one and let Karen pour them a generous cupful.

When dinner is ready, they all sit down at the thrifted dining table that has certainly seen better days. Butters' chair wobbles, and he's pretty sure there isn't a dish in this house that doesn't have some sort of cartoon printed into its plastic surface. Kenny eats off of a Batman plate, as does Haley, while Karen and Butters opted for the Rapunzel plates that were drying in the dish rack.

"This is great, Ken, thank you," Butters says after a bite of overcooked pasta. It makes Kenny smile, though, and since they were kids that's always been one of Butters' favorite pastimes, making Kenny smile.

"Thanks, Butters," Kenny smiles back. Butters doesn't miss Karen eyeing the two of them as she twirls the noodles on her fork, and soon Butters' face flushes and he turns all of his attention back to his food. He tunes in and out of Haley's chatter and wonders to himself just how stupid he could be.

Kenny likes girls, he always has. He likes them so much he even had a baby with one. And yet here Butters is, getting all moony-eyed over Kenny like a goddamned school boy.

Out of habit, when he's done, he starts to clean up. He takes his dish, Karen's, and the empty spaghetti pot and puts them in the sink.

"Dude, what the hell are you doing?" Kenny chuckles. "You don't have to bus the table or anything, you're a guest."

Butters only flushes further, and murmurs a quick "Sorry" before he sits back at the table.

"Well," Karen smacks her now empty cup back on the table. "This just got sufficiently more uncomfortable. Hey string bean, whaddya say we go wash your face?"

Haley's big blue eyes go wide, as though she thought her messy red face would go unnoticed, and she slips out of the chair to run away as fast as she can.

"Ah, shit," Karen moans. "Honey, not when Auntie Karen has had her wine."

Kenny sighs as Karen trips over one of her massive feet in an attempt to catch up to her niece. Kenny sighs and rubs a hand over his face, seemingly deaf to the squeals coming from the other room.

"Uh, Kenny?" Butters pipes up. "A-are you all right?"

"Yeah," Kenny nods. "It's just hard, man. I love Haley more than me, you know? But I'm just so tired all the time. I mean, I know I have Karen here and everything, but like… it's really hard doing this alone, you know?"

"Daddy!" Haley zips back into the room and climbs up into Kenny's lap.

"Hey, there's my little monster," Kenny grins, and kisses her on her freshly cleaned cheeks. "Where'd Aunt Karen go?"

"She says she's not coming out 'til you two go 'boink'," Haley explains, and Kenny rolls his eyes. This time he's the one who goes red.

Suddenly Butters' mouth gets very dry.

"Hey, you wanna show Butters your favorite game?" Kenny asks. "I bet he'd like to play with you."

"Yeah!" Haley beams, and hops right off of Kenny to grab something out from under the coffee table.

It's quite possibly the oldest game of Candyland Butters has ever seen. The board is curled slightly from water damage, and the corners of the paper peel slightly. There are missing pieces that Kenny has made up for with actual pieces of candy—a Dot, a stale gummy bear, and a cinnamon Jolly Ranger.

"Jeez, Ken, you're gonna get ants," Butters mentions as Haley sets up the game.

"Well, a new game is number one on your wish list for Santa, isn't it?" Kenny asks, stroking a hand over her fine blonde hair. Haley nods, and informs them that it is now time to start the game.

There's a big argument not too long in about whether or not Kenny gets to use Gumdrop Pass, but Haley lets it go when she looks over and sees that Butters has shoved his game piece, the Dot, up his nose. She giggles so hard that she almost falls off her chair, and Kenny does the same.

He does reckon it's a bit yucky, and promises that he'll replace the piece before he comes over and plays next.

"Butters is coming over again?" Haley perks up.

"Yeah, but first you gotta go get ready for bed like a good girl," Kenny pats her on her bottom, and Haley lets out a little victory yelp before she runs off to do as she's told.

"I want Butters to read to me!" she calls as an afterthought. Butters feels his heart squeeze up—he hasn't had someone so genuinely interested in being around him in forever.

"You're awesome, dude," Kenny grins as he walks Butters back into Haley's room. "Like, really. I appreciate it so much."

"Nonsense," Butters waves him off. "Happy to do it."

"Butters, pick a book!" Haley calls from her bed, where she's already sitting with her new bear in her lap. Her room isn't as sparse as the rest of the house, but each one of her toys looks as though it's seen better days. Her books, too, all seem to be well-read and loved.

"All right, let's see," Butters crouches in front of the shelf.

"Ho _shit_," Kenny blurts out then, and Butters turns sharply.

He realizes then that his shirt has ridden up and his pants have pulled down, revealing a sliver of his lacy underthings. Burning red, Butters chooses the first book he sees and plops down with his back as far against the wall as it will go.

Haley doesn't notice anything odd about Butters' flushed face, or the way her dad turns on his heel and leaves the room.

It turns out Butters has grabbed a Dr. Seuss book, and so he's trapped reading for much longer than he anticipated. When he's done, Haley has fallen asleep against him with her thumb in her mouth and her bear pressed securely against her chest. Butters pulls the covers up over her and tiptoes out of the room.

He sees Kenny watching TV on the couch, a beer in hand and a pillow on his lap.

Well then.

"Uh, so I'm gonna head out," Butters murmurs, not looking Kenny in the eye. "Thanks again for havin' me over. I-I reckon I'll see you around."

He leaves as fast as he can, embarrassment burning his cheeks and eyes. He can't believe he got caught—there's no way Kenny doesn't know what he just saw, and there's no way he'd ever associate with a freak like Butters after seeing it.

Butters drives home in silence and goes straight to bed, though the nerves roiling in his stomach make it impossible for him to sleep.

The worst thing is that he'll keep dressing like that again and again. He'll never get any better and he'll have to spend the rest of his life coming home to nothing but an empty bed and a dresser drawer full of lacy underpants.

ooo

The next day at work, Butters dawdles on purpose just so he'll have to stay late. Not that he thinks Kenny would ever invite him back into his home anyway, but it's best he doesn't take any chances. Though he isn't crazy about being left alone in this big office at night, it can't be worse than Kenny's looks of disgust.

What he isn't expecting, however, is a very zen looking Kenny McCormick showing up at his desk with a bag from Subway and two sodas.

"Jesus, Ken," Butters starts. "You s-scared the crap outta me."

"Sorry," Kenny pulls Helen's chair over and takes a seat. "Figured you weren't eating, so I brought you a little sustenance."

"Aw… y-you really didn't have to do that," Butters slips his reading glasses off his face, though he still refuses to look Kenny in the eye. "Um, I-I gotta say, I didn't really expect to see you again."

"Dude, why?" Kenny raises an eyebrow. Butters shrugs, not wanting to actually say it aloud, and so he and Kenny each grab a half of a sandwich and unwrap.

He doesn't get a bite in before he puts his sandwich down and explains, "I'm not a woman. I don't wanna be, I don't plan on it, I like my man parts a-an' everythin' like that."

Kenny's eyes go wide, an expression he shares with his daughter right down to the way their pupils dilate.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" he asks. "I know that. Christ, Butters, it's just a pair of panties, calm down. Ain't nobody care what you're rockin' under your pants."

Butters should feel relieved, he knows he should, but it's hard to stomach the rest of his sandwich with the way his secret is hanging half out of the closet like that.

"Can I show you somethin'?" Butters asks. Kenny blinks at him, but nods all the same. So, Butters swallows the knot of nerves in his throat and stands. His hands shake so badly he can barely get his belt undone.

Kenny interjects, "Dude, you don't have to show me if you don't want." And then he amends, "You can if you _want_, but I don't want you to feel obligated or anything like that. You're… you're my friend, and if you dig ladies' underwear, that's what you dig. No big deal."

Butters deflates slightly, belt undone and pants button popped. "I—you mean it?" he asks.

"Well," Kenny shrugs. "Gotta admit, I don't think I've been that turned on by a pair of panties since the first time I saw Bebe flash a whale tail in the eighth grade."

His eyes sparkle with something disturbingly familiar as he flashes Butters that toothy grin. All these warm feelings kick up in Butters' core, and instead of sitting down and eating his sandwich in the safety of Kenny's company, he undoes the zipper on his pants and licks his lips. Kenny stares directly at the sliver of black lace he can see through the opening in Butters' pants, and Butters feels a sudden rush of daring surge through him. He toes off his shoes and slips his pants all the way down, before pulling his tie loose and unbuttoning his shirt.

Stripping.

He's stripping for Kenny McCormick.

This is beyond dangerous.

And yet here he is, unable to stop, and there Kenny is, unable to look away.

"Fuck, dude," Kenny breathes. Butters wears one of his frillier black garter belts, clipped to his new fishnets and settled over his lacy black panties. Through the lace Butters can already see his cock starting to swell just under the attention of Kenny's gaze, and he shrugs off his shirt.

"Uh," Butters looks down at his feet. "I-it's a little more than just the panties."

"I'll say," Kenny nods. "God, your dick looks perfect there, dude."

Butters sighs softly, the compliment getting him even harder, and without thinking he readjusts the lace so he's hanging out of the panties.

Shit.

Shit, what if this isn't okay?

"Wow," Kenny just marvels. "You… you're fucking gorgeous, dude."

Butters still can't look at Kenny, so Kenny stands up and presses two reassuring hands into his thick, muscled shoulders.

"You are," he reassures, and then the most amazing thing happens. Kenny leans forward and presses their lips together. It's a kiss. A very nice kiss at that.

Butters hasn't been kissed in so long.

"Can I touch you?" Kenny asks when he pulls back, and Butters gives a small, desperate nod. Gently, Kenny reaches between them and drags a knuckle up the side of Butters' erection.

Butters whimpers.

"Hang on," Kenny says then, and starts working at his own belt and pants. Butters watches as Kenny strips ungracefully, though it is a wonder how anyone can get down to their undies so fast.

Kenny wears boxers—worn thin, cheap, and not at all what Butters would want to wear at all. How good can those feel on a guy's skin?

They kiss again, this time more frantic as Kenny backs Butters up against his desk. It's a good thing it's clean, otherwise they'd be in for a real mess later on.

"God, you are so fuckin' sexy," Kenny breathes, like he's unable to believe he hasn't noticed before. Butters flushes, lips and cheeks and chin tender from where Kenny's stubble has rubbed into him, but it doesn't stop him from going in for more. He wraps his legs around Kenny and grinds their erections together.

They both groan.

Kenny kisses Butters down his neck and over his shoulders, breathing hard as Butters grinds into him again and again. Except he pulls away so he can kiss lower and lower, going until he's on his knees and face to face with Butters' cock. He takes it in his hand and gives a few experimental strokes, and Butters' head reels.

And then Kenny sticks out his tongue and teases a lick over Butters' balls, before taking the head of his erection into his mouth.

Butters swears as the back of his head hits the top of the cubicle wall. Kenny's gag reflex is practically nonexistent, and the way Butters' fishnet-clad thighs drape over Kenny's inked up shoulders sends warm chills running up his spine.

He reaches down to fist a hand in Kenny's hair, tugging softly as he swirls his tongue in just the right way around him. He can't stop swearing, but Kenny is just that good. He listens to what touches make Butters tick, and which Butters could do without. When it starts to get to be too much, he even goes still and lets Butters fuck his mouth, giving him a quick wink when they catch each other's eye.

Butters comes hard after that, toes curling in his stocking toes and all sorts of moans echoing in the empty room. When Kenny pulls away, he has a little drool of come leaking out of the corner of his mouth and this glazed over look in his eye.

What Butters wouldn't give to tackle that man to the ground and ride him into next week.

"C'mere," he sighs through a grin, and licks at the corner of Kenny's mouth.

"Jesus," Kenny chuckles. "You saucy little devil." Butters grins against his lips and brings him in for a slow, sensual kiss. He loves being able to taste himself on other guys' tongues, a similar taste made different every time.

It's a lot better this time than he remembers.

"You wouldn't happen to have lube or nothin' would you?" Butters asks, and Kenny rolls his eyes. He pulls back to grab his wallet from his pants pocket, and procures from inside a few packets of lube and a condom.

"Never leave the house unprepared," he says. "Though, I don't know if this lube is gonna be enough."

"It'll be fine," Butters reassures him with a kiss, and hikes Kenny's boxers down with his fingers.

Kenny's cock is long and skinny, like the rest of him, and pierced a few times under the head. Butters wants to lick each and every barbell extensively, but that's for another time. Right now, he lets Kenny unhook his garters and slide his panties down his legs.

The lube in the packets may just be samples, but on Kenny's fingers Butters doesn't mind. His digits are long and elegant, and they're just as gentle as he is. Butters is no stranger to the feeling of being full, having done this plenty of times before both with other men and with his toys at home. Kenny stretches him thoroughly still, though, and makes sure Butters is absolutely ready before he opens his condom and slides it on.

"You're hard again," Kenny grins as he lines himself up against Butters' slick entrance.

"Yeah, and?" Butters teases back.

"My kinda man," Kenny kisses him, and starts to press inside him.

It's probably the nicest feeling in the world, having a guy inside him, and when the guy is Kenny McCormick? Well, that's all even better.

A few shallow thrusts shake the cubicle wall, so Butters has to reach back and hold onto the tops of the wall to steady both himself and the structure. Kenny braces himself on the desk and tries again. It seems to work a little better—nothing is in danger of collapsing anyway—and so Kenny works his hips into a rhythm.

They have to find an angle that works well for both of them, and when they get it, oh _boy_, do they get it. He may be hard again, but Butters is still sensitive from already coming. When Kenny thrusts into his prostate, Butters' eyes cross and he has a hard time keeping two thoughts in his head at once. The world's become nothing but him and this man in front of him, this sweet man with a sweet daughter, who brought him dinner and opened up his home and his life to Butters.

Butters screws his eyes shut and tries not to concentrate on how sore his arms are getting holding himself and the wall together.

When Kenny gets close, he lifts Butters' hips off the desk and thrusts harder, sending Butters beyond his own breaking point yet again. He comes for the second time that night, in lesser quantity, he's pretty sure, all over his chest and stomach and garter belt. It's enough to send Kenny in right after him, thrusting so hard that Butters thinks he might actually feel it in his heart.

He loves it, though.

When their breathing has evened out, Kenny slides out of Butters and slips his condom off, tossing it in the trash before he collapses back in Butters' chair, stark naked.

"For the record," Kenny points out, "That was not the reason I brought you a sandwich."

Butters gives an exhausted, breathy laugh and runs his fingers through his sweaty hair. He should clean himself up, but he doesn't quite want to yet.

Who exactly would it hurt if he kept himself covered in come until he got home, anyway?

"Jeez," Butters sits up, a little tender but no worse for the wear in the long run. "I-I gotta tell you, that's the best reaction I've ever gotten."

He bends to hike his stockings back up his legs and clip them to his garters again. There's a large hole in his right calf, and he pouts. "A-aw, this was a new pair too."

"Uh, not that I'm complaining, but," Kenny bends over and grabs Butters' panties off the floor. "You seem to have forgotten something."

"Ah," Butters braces his hands on his hips. "Eh, fuck it. Gimme my pants?"

Kenny bends and tosses Butters' pants to him, conceding only then to get dressed.

Butters doesn't even get his shirt buttoned all the way before Kenny surges forward and kisses him again.

"W-what was that for?" Butters asks.

Kenny shrugs and strokes his thumbs over Butters' cheek bones.

"I like you, Butters," says Kenny. "A lot."

Butters' heart beats hard against his ribs. Kenny likes him.

This sweet, wonderful, sexy man _likes him_.

"Like," Kenny continues, not looking Butters in the eye. "You're really good with Haley, and you don't make me feel bad about having a kid like everyone else I know, and, I don't know, I just love being around you. And you wear really, _really _sexy underwear."

"Jesus, Kenny," Butters feels the tops of his ears burn.

"Would you come over for dinner again tomorrow night?" Kenny asks.

Butters bites his lip and picks at his thumbnail. "What if I cooked for you guys instead? You can come to my place. All three of you."

Kenny's lips pull up into a smile and he asks, "Is my cooking really that bad?"

"Shut up," Butters chuckles, and pushes Kenny lightly on the shoulder.

ooo

"Daddy, daddy! Wake up, it's Christmas! And Santa came last night!"

Butters groans as Kenny shifts underneath him. He knows full well that Santa came last night—he was up until three in the morning wrapping the last of his gifts, the ones he didn't tell Kenny he'd gotten.

"Daddy, Butters, come on!" Haley exclaims, and jumps up on the bed to make a point. It's only been six months, and already he feels more part of a family than Butters has ever felt with anyone else in his life.

"All right, baby, hang on," Kenny grumbles and slides out from under Butters. They're both wearing pajamas this morning, at least (thank god). "You want coffee?"

"Yes please," Butters yawns, only to have it cut short by a little girl pummeling him. "Hey there, sweetheart. Merry Christmas."

"I know it's Christmas, it's time for presents!" Haley bounces, sending her knee right into Butters' gut.

"Oh, that explains it," he wheezes.

"What?"

"My present is right here, how funny," he wraps his arms around Haley and blows a raspberry into her cheek. She giggles wildly as Butters sits up and hugs her close, tickling her sides and kissing her big chubby cheeks.

"I'm not a present!" she exclaims and hooks her arms around Butters' neck as he gets up out of bed and walks into the living room. Kenny and Karen both look at the tree in awe, and when Kenny sees Butters he can't help but let out a disbelieving laugh.

"I got a Christmas monkey delivery," Butters announces. "I need someone to sign for it."

"Dude," Kenny just says as he looks back at the gifts under the tree. "Where'd all these come from?"

"Santa," Butters shrugs. "He must'a known there was a nice family here."

"Santa came!" Haley announces and wriggles out of Butters' arms. "Can I open one, daddy? Please?"

"Uh, yeah, go ahead," Kenny nods. As Haley roots around for a good gift to open first, Kenny drapes his arms over Butters' shoulders and leans in close to his ear. "Where'd you get all this?"

"I'm part Christmas elf, I never told you?" Butters grins back.

"Seriously, baby, this is… amazing," Kenny grabs the back of his neck. "I think I would've shit myself if I had this many presents under the tree when I was a kid."

"There's some under there for you too," Butters smiles. "I wanted to give you a nice Christmas, I know you were worried about it."

Kenny doesn't respond, just brings Butters into a full-on kiss. Karen clears her throat a few times, but Haley appears to be so engrossed in her first gift that she doesn't even notice her dad and his boyfriend locking lips beside her.

"Oh, wow!" she exclaims. "A Tangled dress! Daddy, Santa brought me my Tangled dress!"

Kenny looks down and whistles. "Hot damn, Santa even knew which princess is your favorite."

"Santa knows everything, daddy," Haley explains very frankly. The only thing that's missing is a great big 'duh' at the end of it.

Kenny laughs and wraps his arms around Butters' middle, resting his chin on Butters' shoulder.

"I love you, baby," he sighs softly, and Butters grins.

"I love you too, darlin'."

And for the first time in his life Butters has a pleasant Christmas with his family.


End file.
